Greenland's Capital Hit 59.4F On Sunday; Temps In Far North 30-50F Higher Than Normal
Temperatures soared to record levels in Greenland early this week, up to 50 degrees above normal in some places. Researchers say this early warm spell could make its ice sheet more vulnerable to melt events this summer. Recent summers have brought record-setting melting of the massive ice sheet, which is the world’s largest contributor to rising sea levels, outpacing the Antarctic ice sheet and mountain glaciers.
“It was certainly a very unusual event, that such a high temperature was reached in the middle of winter,” Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute, wrote in an email. “There was indeed a March record set this week.”
This latest warm spell in Greenland pushed the temperature in its capital, Nuuk, up to 59.4 degrees (15.2 Celsius) on Sunday, the warmest on record for March or April, according to climate expert Maximiliano Herrera. Researchers at the Danish Meteorological Institute confirmed the record, stating the temperature surpassed the previous March record of 55.7 degrees (13.2 Celsius) in 2016 and previous April record of 58.2 degrees (14.6 Celsius) in 2019.
Martin Stendel, a climate researcher at the Danish Meteorological Institute, said Sunday’s measurement was the warmest on record so early in the year and warmer than Copenhagen at the same time. The average March high in Nuuk, which sits on the southwestern coast of the island, is about 23 degrees (minus-5 Celsius). Computer model analyses showed even more anomalous temperatures in the far-northern part of Greenland, between 30 and 50 degrees (17 and 28 Celsius) above normal.
EDIT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/03/07/greenland-record-warmth-ice-sheet/
